Image forming apparatus and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

An image forming apparatus includes an operation display unit, a display range registration unit, an icon registration unit, and a display control unit. In the operation display unit, an icon for selecting an image forming apparatus operation is displayed. In the display range registration unit, information on a display range of the icons displayed on the operation display unit is registered. In the icon registration unit, information on a display position of the icon on the operation display unit is registered. In the display control unit, a movement button for moving the icon based on the information on the display range which is registered in the display range registration unit is displayed when the icon is selected. In the display control unit, the information on the display position which is registered in the icon registration unit is updated when the movement button is pressed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/453,232, filed Aug. 6, 2014, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

In an image forming apparatus of the related art, it may be possible fora user to register, in advance, a functional icon for selecting on adisplay unit such as a touch panel, an operation of the image formingapparatus. In such an image forming apparatus, it is possible toregister a plurality of such functional icons on the operation displayunit at desired positions thereon. However, there arises an issue when anew icon is attempted to be positioned at, or an existing icon isdesired to be moved to, a position on the display unit where a differenticon already is located.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an imageforming apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operationpanel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a functionalblock of a display control unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a registration example of a displayrange of an icon according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting a first icon registration data accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of icons displayed on atouch panel according to the first icon registration data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram depicting a second icon registration data accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of icons displayed on atouch panel according to the second icon registration data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram depicting a third icon registration data accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of icons displayed on atouch panel according to the third icon registration data.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart depicting operations of a moving control of anicon according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting updating processing of iconregistration data according to the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, according to one embodiment, an image forming apparatusincludes an operation display unit, a display range registration unit,an icon registration unit, and a display control unit. In the operationdisplay unit, an icon for selecting an image forming apparatus operationis displayed. In the display range registration unit, information on adisplay range of the icons displayed on the operation display unit isregistered. In the icon registration unit, information on a displayposition of the icon on the operation display unit is registered. In thedisplay control unit, a movement button for moving the icon based on theinformation on the display range which is registered in the displayrange registration unit is displayed when the icon is selected. In thedisplay control unit, the information on the display position which isregistered in the icon registration unit is updated when the movementbutton is pressed.

Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus according to the embodimentwill be described with reference to drawings. In addition, the sameportion or item in each drawing will be given the same referencenumeral.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the imageforming apparatus according to the embodiment. In FIG. 1, an imageforming apparatus 1 includes a display control unit 10, an operationpanel 100, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 11, a Read Only Memory (ROM)12, a Random Access Memory (RAM) 13, a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 14, anengine control unit 15, a printer 16, a scanner 17, and a networkcontrol unit 18.

The display control unit 10 controls the operation panel 100. Theoperation panel 100 will be described in detail using FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of theoperation panel according to the embodiment. In FIG. 2, the operationpanel 100 includes a touch panel 101 which is exemplified as anoperation display unit, and a hard key keypad group 102. The touch panel101 displays icons 1010, and movement buttons 1011 for moving the icons1010.

FIG. 2 exemplifies a case in which the touch panel 101 displays theicons 1010 using three rows and four columns which are denoted bydisplay positions of “a” to “l”.

The “icon” of the embodiment described herein is a touch panel locationdisplay which is used to select a desired operation of the image formingapparatus 1. The icon is displayed on the touch panel 101 in apredetermined shape or pattern to be pressed by a user to select anoperation or function of the image forming apparatus 1. The icon mayinclude a text button which displays text, for example.

A user may create an icon in advance which represents, and when touchedcauses execution of, a desired operation with respect to the imageforming apparatus 1. The desired operation with respect to the imageforming apparatus 1 may be, for example, setting of copy conditions suchas setting of scanning conditions, copy magnification, post processingoperations, settings for transmitting a scanned document to a server,and settings for transmitting the document to a predetermineddestination using a fax machine, or the like.

It is possible for a user to customize the position of icons, byregistering the created icon at a preferable display position of “a” to“l” on the touch panel 101. In this manner, the user is able to easilylocate the registered icon according to a display position of the icon.

The movement touch button 1011 according to the embodiment includespress buttons representing four directions of an up button M1, a downbutton M2, a left button M3, and a right button M4. However, thearrangement of the touch buttons is not limited to this configuration.The movement touch buttons may be arranged for eight directions ofmovement by further adding four directions of upper left, lower left,upper right, and lower right, for example. In addition, touch buttonsfor moving a specific selected icon of the icons 1010 to a specificdisplay position such as a “front” touch button which moves the icon1010 to the first display position of “a”, and a “rear” touch buttonwhich moves the icon to the display position of “1”, i.e., the lastdisplay position of the touch buttons may be used.

Returning again to FIG. 1, the display control unit 10 transmits displayinformation regarding the icons 1010 and the movement button 1011 whichare displayed on the touch panel 101 with respect to the operation panel100. In addition, the display control unit 10 receives operationalinformation from the operation panel 100 when the touch panel 101 or abutton on the hard key keypad group 102 is pressed by a user. Movementcontrol of the icons 1010 by the display control unit 10, which isdisplayed on the touch panel 101, will be described later herein.

The CPU 11 is a main CPU which controls operations of the image formingapparatus 1. The CPU 11 executes, for example, a program which isrecorded in the ROM 12 or the HDD 14, and is developed in the RAM 13 byreading thereof. According to the embodiment, a case in which thedisplay control unit 10 controls the operation panel 100 will bedescribed. However, the CPU 11 may directly control the operation panel100.

The engine control unit 15 controls hardware of the image formingapparatus 1 such as the printer 16, and the scanner 17. Since the timingcontrol of operations is important in the hardware such as the printer16 or the scanner 17, for example, the printer 16, or the like, may becontrolled by incorporating firmware in Large Scale Integration (LSI)such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) in the enginecontrol unit 15.

The network control unit 18 controls communications through a network20. The network control unit 18 is provided using a Network InterfaceCard (NIC), for example. The image forming apparatus 1 may receive, forexample, print data from a computer which is connected to the network 20through the network control unit 18. In addition, the network controlunit 18 may provide a Web screen to the computer which is connected tothe network 20 by being provided with a Web server function.

Hereinafter, control of the operation panel 100 by the display controlunit 10 will be described using FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustratinga configuration example of a functional block of the display controlunit 10 according to the embodiment.

In FIG. 3, the display control unit 10 includes an icon registrationunit 51, a display range registration unit 52, and a functionregistration unit 53.

The icon registration unit 51 performs registration control of the icons1010 which are displayed on the touch panel 101. In the registration ofthe icons 1010, an initial registration in which a display position anda function of an individual icon are registered, as well as registrationof a change in the display position of the icon due to a movement of theicon, which will be described later herein, are provided. A movementcontrol unit for moving the display position of the icon will bedescribed later herein in greater detail.

The display range registration unit 52 registers information concerningthe available display range, i.e. positions and locations thereof, ofthe icons 1010 displayed on the touch panel 101. An example ofregistering the information of the display range of the icons 1010 willbe described using FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating aregistration example of the display range of the icons 1010 according tothe embodiment.

In FIG. 4, display range data 521 includes fields of an “item name” anda “value”. FIG. 4 exemplifies a case in which the “number of displays inthe vertical direction” and the “number of displays in the horizontaldirection” are settable as an “item name”. The number of displays in thevertical direction denotes the number of display rows of icons 1010shown on the touch panel 101 screen, and the number of displays in thehorizontal direction denotes the number of display columns of the icons1010 shown on the touch panel 101 screen. FIG. 4 exemplifies a case inwhich the display range of three rows and four columns as illustrated inFIG. 2 has been selected.

In addition, the number of pages of the icons 1010 which are displayableon the touch panel 101 may be registered in the display range data 521.For example, where the number of pages is set to two, and the number ofdisplays in the vertical direction is set to 4 and the number ofdisplays in the horizontal direction is set to 3, there are two pages ofthe display range of the three rows and four columns of icons asillustrated in FIG. 2, and it is possible to register 3×4×2=24 icons. Inaddition, a selection of, for example, “scrolling” or “page switching”may be registered in the display range data 521, as a method ofdisplaying and icon when the number of icons to be registered exceedsthe number which can be displayed simultaneously on the touch panel 101.FIG. 4 exemplifies a case in which the “page switching” is selected bysetting the “scrolling” to be “NO”.

Returning to FIG. 3 again, operations of the image forming apparatus 1which are instituted when an individual icon in the icons 1010 ispressed are registered in the function registration unit 53. Forexample, an operation for selecting, and thus initiating, a functionsuch as copying, faxing, and scanning is registered in the functionregistration unit 53.

In addition, a part or all of the functions of the icon registrationunit 51, the display range registration unit 52, and the functionregistration unit 53 are located in software which is executed by theCPU built in the display control unit 10. However, locating of the iconregistration unit 51, the display range registration unit 52, and thefunction registration unit 53 is not limited to the use of software. Forexample, a part, or all of the functions of the icon registration unit51, the display range registration unit 52, and the functionregistration unit 53 may be located on exclusive hardware. In addition,a part, or all of the functions of the icon registration unit 51, thedisplay range registration unit 52, and the function registration unit53 may be located in firmware using LSI, or the like.

Subsequently, position control of the icons 1010 by the display controlunit 10 will be described using FIGS. 5 to 10. FIG. 5 is a diagramdepicting first icon registration data according to the embodiment.

In FIG. 5, information concerning the icons 1010 which are registered bythe icon registration unit 51 described in FIG. 3 is registered in iconregistration data 60. The icon registration data 60 includes fields ofan “icon ID”, a “position ID”, and a “function”. The icon ID is a uniqueicon ID which is generated when the icon registration unit 51 registersan icon. FIG. 5 exemplifies a case in which three icons of “1”, “2”, and“3” are registered as icon IDs. The “position ID” denotes the displayposition denoted by “a” to “1” on the touch panel which is described inFIG. 2. The “function” denotes the operation of the image formingapparatus 1 which is associated with the respective icons. For example,for the icon having the icon ID 2 and the display position is “f”, whenthe icon is pressed, a scanning operation is initiated. In addition, inFIG. 5, position IDs is registered with respect to all of icon IDs.However, a non-display icon may be registered in advance in the touchpanel 101 by registering only the function of the icon, and notregistering the position ID, for example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of icons displayed on atouch panel according to the first icon registration data shown in FIG.5. In FIG. 6, an icon having the ID of 1 in FIG. 5 is displayed as atext display button “copy” which is the registered function at position“a” of the icon 1010. Similarly, the icon denoted icon ID 2 in FIG. 5 isdisplayed as the text display button “scanning” at position “f”, and theicon which has the ID 3 is displayed as the text display button “FAX” atposition “g” on the touch panel.

Here, an example where a user changes the display position of the iconhaving the ID is 2 which is at the display position of “f”, and isdisplayed on the touch panel of FIG. 6 as “scanning” will be described.

The user presses the “scanning” icon at display position “f”. A doublelined box in the text button of “scanning” illustrated in FIG. 6 denotesthat the icon has been pressed and thus selected. From the displaylocation “f”, the icon may be moved in any direction of up and down andleft and right using the movement arrows M1 to M4. Accordingly, themovement button 1011 is displayed to be pressable in all directionsprovided by arrows M1 to M4. Here, it is assumed that the user pressesthe right button M4 in order to move the “scanning” icon to the position“g”.

FIG. 7 is a diagram depicting the status of the second icon registrationdata when the user presses the right button M4. In FIG. 7, in the iconregistration data 60, the position of the icon designated or identified(ID′d) as 2 is updated to the location designation “g” from the sourcelocation “f”. On the other hand, the position ID of the icon designated3 which was originally at the position location “g” is updated toposition “f”, which was the origin position location of the icondesignated as 2.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the icons registered as shown in FIG. 7in the new positions thereof. In FIG. 8, the “FAX” icon having the iconID 3 is displayed at the display position of “f”, and the “scanning”icon having the icon ID 2 is displayed at the display position of “g”.That is, the display position of the icon for “FAX” and the displayposition of the icon for “scanning” are now switched in comparison totheir positions in FIG. 6. The “scanning” icon is also shown, in the “g”position, having a double lined box, illustrating to the user that theicon may be again moved by touching of one of the movement arrows.Because the “scanning” icon in the display position “g” may be moved inany of the directions up, down, left and right, all four of the movementbuttons 1011 are displayed and active for pressing in all of thedirections of arrows M1 to M4. Next, a user presses the down button M2when the icon 2 is in the position g as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is adiagram depicting a third icon registration data set resulting from thepressing of the down button M2 in FIG. 8. In FIG. 9, in the iconregistration data 60, the position ID location of the icon 2 has beenupdated to the destination “k” from the source location “g”. On theother hand, since the display position of the destination “k” was in anempty state in which there was no registered icon prior to the movementof icon 2 to that location, when the icon 2 is moved from position “g”,the display position “g” enters an empty state, i.e., it remains blank.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of icons displayed on thetouch panel according to the third icon registration data. In FIG. 10,the “scanning” icon having the icon ID 2 is displayed at the displayposition “k”. From the display position “k”, the icon cannot be moved ina lower direction. Accordingly, the down button M2 of the movementbutton 1011 cannot be activated. In order to inform a user that thebutton cannot be activated, the shape of the movement button in thedirection in which movement cannot be made may be changed. As a methodof changing a shape of the movement button, a display color of themovement button may be changed, for example. FIG. 10 exemplifies a casein which the down button M2 is displayed in a “gray-out” state. Inaddition, when a movement button which is displayed in the gray-outstate is pressed, a pop-up which denotes that the selected movement isnot possible may be displayed on the touch panel 101.

In addition, a movement button in the direction in which a movementcannot be made may be in a non-displayed state in order to inform a userthat the movement direction (s) indicated by the not displayed buttoncannot be activated.

Hereinafter, a method of movement control of the icon using the displaycontrol unit 10 will be described using FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 11 is aflowchart depicting operations of the movement control of the iconaccording to the embodiment. In addition, a case will be exemplified inwhich the following control is executed using the icon registration unit51 of the display control unit 10.

In FIG. 11, the icon registration unit 51 determines whether or not anyone of icons which are displayed on the touch panel is pressed andselected (ACT 1). When an icon is not selected (NO in ACT 1), theprocess is repeated until the icon is selected.

When an icon is selected (YES in ACT 1), the icon registration unit 51calculates a movement range of the selected icon (ACT 2). As a method ofcalculating the movement range, a method of determining whether or notthe movement is possible from the selected position ID is exemplified.

For example, in the touch panel described in FIG. 2, twelve displaypositions of three rows by four columns denoted by “a” to “1” areregistered. When a display position of “a” is set to “0”, a displayposition of “1” is set to “11”, all of icons may move in a range of thedisplay position of 0 to 11. Here, when the left button M3 is pressed,“−1” is added to the original display position, and when the rightbutton M4 is pressed, “+1” is added to the original display position. Inaddition, when the up button M1 is pressed, “−4” representing the numberof display positions in a column (4) is added to the original position.In addition, when the down button M2 is pressed, “+4” with which thenumber of display positions in a column (4) is added to the originalposition. If the addition result of the positive or negative wholenumber exceeds the range of 0 to 11, the selected icon cannot be movedfrom its original position. That is, where the calculation result is anegative value, and where the icon position calculation result exceeds amaximum number equal to the number of available icon positions minus 1.For example, a display position of “f” is “5”. Accordingly, it isdetermined that “f” may be moved whatever movement button 1011 may bepressed. On the other hand, since a display position of “k” is 10, andsince 10+4=14, which is calculated when the down button M2 is pressed,exceeds the maximum number 11 of the icon positions, it is determinedthat “k” cannot be moved downward.

In addition, the method of determining the movement range is not limitedto the above described calculation method, and may be executed usinganother method. For example, a direction in which a display position maybe moved may be registered in advance in each display position.

In addition, when the icon is constituted by a plurality of pages, orwhen the icon is denoted by scrolling, a display page may be switchedalong with a movement of the icon, or the icon may be displayed usingscrolling.

Subsequently, a movement button denoting a direction in which a movementmay be performed is displayed based on the result calculated inprocessing in ACT 2 (ACT 3). The down button M2 which is described inFIG. 10 is displayed in a gray-out state due to processing in ACT 3.

Subsequently, whether or not the selection of the icon is released isdetermined (ACT 4). The releasing of the selection of the icon may beexecuted using a resetting switch of the hard key pad group 102, forexample. When the selection of the icon is released (YES in ACT 4), themovement processing of the icon using the flowchart is ended.

When the selection of the icon is not released (NO in ACT 4), whether ornot any one of the movement buttons 1011 is pressed is determined (ACT5). When the movement button 1011 is not pressed after a preselectedperiod of time (NO in ACT 5), the process returns to the process in ACT4.

When the movement button 1011 is pressed in the preselected period oftime (YES in ACT 5), the icon registration data 60 is updated (ACT 6).Detailed processing in ACT 6 will be described using FIG. 12. FIG. 12 isa flowchart depicting an updating process of the icon registration data60 according to the embodiment in ACT 6.

In FIG. 12, whether or not another icon is registered at a destinationdisplay position is determined (ACT 61). When another icon is registeredin the destination position (YES in ACT 61), the position ID of the iconwhich is registered at the destination display position is updated,i.e., switched, to the original position ID of the source icon, i.e.,the original position of the icon being moved (ACT 62).

On the other hand, when another icon was not registered at thedestination display position (NO in ACT 61), the processing in ACT 62 isskipped.

Subsequently, the position ID of the moving source icon is updated tothe position ID of the destination (ACT 63). Hitherto, the processing inACT 6 is ended.

Returning to FIG. 11 again, the icon registration unit 51 moves the iconwhich is displayed on the touch panel 101 based on the icon registrationdata 60 which is updated due to the processing in ACT 6 (ACT 7). Themovement range is recalculated based on the display position of the iconwhich is moved in the processing in ACT 7 (ACT 2).

In addition, the operations of the display control unit which aredescribed using FIGS. 11 and 12 are not limited to the case of beingcontrolled by the icon registration unit 51. For example, the CPU 11which is described in FIG. 1 may perform the display control.

According to at least one of the above described embodiments, in theimage forming apparatus, it is possible to register an icon by easilymoving a display position of the icon without removing the original iconafter newly registering the icon with the same function at a destinationposition of the icon which is displayed on the touch panel, by includingthe operation display unit, the display range registration unit, theicon registration unit, and the control unit.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the inventions.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: anoperation display panel configured to display a plurality of icons forselecting an operation of the image forming apparatus; and a displaycontrol unit configured to: store display position information thatindicates a plurality of display positions on the operation displaypanel for displaying the icons and icon registration information thatassociates the display positions with the icons; when one of the iconsis selected, display a plurality of movement buttons on the operationdisplay panel depending on the display position of the selected icon;when one of the movement buttons is pressed, display the selected iconat a new display position and update the icon registration informationso that the selected icon is associated with the new display position;and update the display of the movement buttons on the operation displaypanel depending on the updated display position of the selected icon. 2.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit isconfigured to cause a movement button pointing in a direction in whichthe selected icon is not capable of being moved, to be disabled based onthe display position information.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the display control unit is configured to change a shape of themovement button pointing in the direction in which the selected icon isnot capable of being moved, based on the display position information.4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display control unitis configured to use a gray scale image for the movement button pointingin the direction in which the selected icon is not capable of beingmoved, based on the display position information.
 5. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the display control unit is configured notto display a movement button pointing in a direction in which theselected icon is not capable of being moved, when the display positioninformation indicates that the selected icon cannot be moved from itscurrent position to the direction.
 6. The apparatus according to claim1, wherein the display position information indicates a total number oficons displayed on the operation display panel in a vertical direction.7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the display positioninformation further indicates a total number of icons displayed on theoperation display panel in a horizontal direction.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein the display position information furtherindicates a total number of pages for displaying the icons on theoperation display panel.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, whereinthe display position information further indicates whether a scrolloperation is allowed on the operation display panel.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the movement buttons comprise: a firstbutton having an up-pointing arrow; a second button having adown-pointing arrow; a third button having a left-pointing arrow; and afourth button having a right-pointing arrow.
 11. A method carried out byan image forming apparatus, the method comprising: displaying on anoperation display panel a plurality of icons for selecting an operationof the image forming apparatus; when one of the icons is selected,displaying a plurality of movement buttons on the operation displaypanel depending on a display position for the selected icon stored inicon registration information; when one of the movement buttons ispressed, displaying the selected icon at a new display position andupdating the icon registration information so that the selected icon isassociated with the new display position; and updating the display ofthe movement buttons on the operation display panel depending on theupdated display position of the selected icon.
 12. The method accordingto claim 11, wherein a movement button pointing in a direction in whichthe selected icon is not capable of being moved is disabled based ondisplay position information indicating a plurality of display positionson the operation display panel for displaying the icons.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein a shape of the movement button pointingin the direction in which the selected icon is not capable of beingmoved is changed based on the display position information.
 14. Themethod according to claim 12, wherein a gray scale image is used for themovement button pointing in the direction in which the selected icon isnot capable of being moved, based on the display position information.15. The method according to claim 11, wherein a movement button pointingin a direction in which the selected icon is not capable of being movedis not displayed when the selected icon cannot be moved from its currentposition to the direction.
 16. The method according to claim 11, whereinthe image forming apparatus stores display position information thatindicates a total number of icons displayed on the operation displaypanel in a vertical direction.
 17. The method according to claim 16,wherein the display position information further indicates a totalnumber of icons displayed on the operation display panel in a horizontaldirection.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the displayposition information further indicates a total number of pages fordisplaying the icons on the operation display panel.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 18, wherein the display position information furtherindicates whether a scroll operation is allowed on the operation displaypanel.
 20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the movementbuttons comprise: a first button having an up-pointing arrow; a secondbutton having a down-pointing arrow; a third button having aleft-pointing arrow; and a fourth button having a right-pointing arrow.